Catching up on our recent stay in Kellogg Iowa when we went to Pella to visit friends and see the sights.
The Scholte House, built in the winter and spring of 1847-1848, was
the fulfillment of a promise Hendrik Scholte made to his wife
Mareah to alleviate her homesickness and disappointment. He had promised
to build her a house with all the comforts of the home she had left in
The Netherlands.
The Scholte's left the Netherlands with 70 other families for religious freedom that could be found in the United States and because of the potato famine of the 1840s. Hendrik Scholte was a Dominie (Pastor) and started his own church in Pella and is considered the founder of the town as well. A couple of interesting things about this house it that it remains pretty much as it was in Pella’s early days, and a Scholte descendant occupied this house from 1848 until 1987. The museum’s Director now lives in the home’s east
wing.
Since this was the house of the leader of the effort to move to Iowa this treasured house contains much of the earliest history of the colonization (de kolonie in Dutch).
Although the rest of the house has been restored and redecorated, the
library has miraculously survived with its original furnishings.
Carpets, wallpaper, and ceiling paper date back to the mid 1850s. Here is the library.
Here is the carpet underneath other carpets under the table.
Here is the wallpaper on the ceiling.
The following photos are from our tour of the house.
There were a lot of paintings in such a big house but this one caught our eye.
The Gardens surrounding the house are amazing and worth a leisurely stroll. Some of the many tulip photos we took were from this garden.
If you ever get the chance to visit Pella allow a lot of time to visit all the sites, it is truly an extraordinary town.
Prior Lake MN (Low 58 Storms Off and On All Day Some Severe High 78) After a great time in Clear Lake Iowa we headed to Prior Lake Minnesota continuing our trek to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the summer. Here is the route we took.
With all the delays due to weather we are spending less time than we would like in Prior Lake. We have friends to see and places to eat so since it will only be 6 days here we will be real busy. In addition to friends and dining we do want to try and see the Hill House of railroad baron James Hill and maybe the State Capital. We are staying at the Dakotah Meadows RV Park which we have stayed before because of its location and kept coming back due to it being a nice park. It looks like it will be rainy a lot during our stay so we might not get much sightseeing done but it will allow us to get caught up on our blogging as we still have some from our stays in Kellogg and Clear Lake to work on.
Clear Lake IA (Low 61 Clouds Giving Way To Sun High 84) This one is for Jim Dixon, the fishing guy of blog land. We went to the Muskie Lounge in Ventura IA.
We went there because we wanted to try a Muskie Burger, one of the Top 100 Things to Eat in Iowa Before You Die (per the Des Moines Register). We also heard that it was pretty neat on the inside. The Muskie Lounge is right on the lake with waterfront seating.
But inside there are fish, a lot of fish.
Here is what was the Iowa State Record Muskie caught in 1974 (since eclipsed), a 29 lb 2 oz Muskie caught in Clear Lake, Iowa's third largest natural lake.
A wide variety of fish can be caught including; walleye, yellow bass, channel catfish, bullhead, crappies, white bass, the aforementioned Muskie, bluegills, northern pike, flathead catfish, and perch so Jim would have a great time. There also is a lot of lures to see, both in the mouths of the fish and elsewhere.
So Jim you can be fishing while Sandie visits the Buddy Holly sites :-)
We do need to give a food report too. We had the Muskie Burger, don't worry it is not made from Muskie, it is a 1/2 lb burger patty with some of the best grilled onions we have had and mushrooms with Swiss and American cheese. We also had a fried walleye sandwich and we split them. Both were very good. A Muskie Burger should be added to the list of those that like burgers.
Clear Lake IA (Low 58 A Couple of Thunderstorms High 78) After our great tour of the Surf Ballroom we went to the crash site. The directions on the pamphlet lead us right to this marker.
At this intersection.
The crash site was, and still is, on private property but the farmer allows the public to come and pay their respects which we think is neat. Here is the quarter mile trail along the fence row to get to the site.
Here is the crash site, nothing remains from the original crash but a memorial has been setup.
Here is a memorial to the forgotten man of that crash, Roger Peterson.
Roger was the 21 year old pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza that took off from the Mason City airport and then crashed in a farm field just north of Clear Lake. In June 1988 a granite memorial was placed outside of the Surf Ballroom listing the names of the three entertainers and Roger.
At the dedication was the families of all four victims, the first time all four families had ever been together.
Here is the memorial to the three entertainers.
Here is a memorial to the hits of the three entertainers.
Clear Lake IA (Low 54 Partly Sunny & Very Warm High 80)
Blogging for us seems to be feast or famine, either nothing to report or a whole lot to report. Part of reporting is cataloging all the photos we take and we take a LOT of photos. We still have a few entries on our stay in Kellogg, in addition to the sites we are visiting while we are in Clear Lake, so stay tuned. Today we wanted to document our visit to the Surf Ballroom (where Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper) had their last concert. Jim and Sandie this one is for you!
The Surf Ballroom Museum (basically the entire place on a self guided tour) is open 8a-4p daily and there is no charge. They do have a donation box if you are so inclined. We don't know exactly how to describe this; Bob felt it was kinda eery and Jo felt goosebumps while walking on the stage and hearing the music from those three acts. Here is Bob on the stage where they played. Sorry for the picture quality they had the lights turned down and if the automagic setting on the camera can't handle it we are out of luck.
Here is the signature room, or green room, where the acts waited before going on stage. It is a Surf Ballroom tradition to sign the walls. Wish we would have asked if this tradition began before or after "The Day The Music Died" and if there was a Buddy Holly signature.
Here is the pay phone that Buddy Holly used to call his wife, Maria Elena and Richie Valens called his manager to tell them they were taking a plane ride instead of the usual bus ride. Maria Elena's signature from the 2009 Memorial Concert is on the placard.
Everybody has probably heard the story but some of the details had escaped us and we learned some new stuff too. The "Winter Dance Party" was an ill conceived event, a show every day traveling hundreds of miles between venues on a cold bus during one of the worst winters ever. Buddy got tired of this and chartered a plane flown by Roger Peterson for himself, Tommy Allsup (guitar) and Waylon Jennings (electric bass), for the long trip to Fargo North Dakota. Here is where it gets interesting. Tommy Allsup lost his seat in a coin toss to Richie Valens. The Big Bopper was coming down with a cold so Waylon Jennings offered his seat. When Buddy heard this he told Waylon, "I hope your ol' bus freezes up!", Jennings replied, "Well I hope your ol' plane crashes". Jennings later admitted that he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash, and that his words would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Another thing that we had forgotten was that Dion and the Belmonts also performed on the "Winter Dance Party" tour as shown in this original poster.
Here is the "Winter Dance Party" schedule. Jennings and Allsup continued the tour for two more weeks with Jennings as the lead singer.
What really amazed us was the history of the place and how well maintained it is. The coat check stand, sorry no picture, is as it was in the 1940s. Bob's parents always talked about the good times they had whenever they visited the Surf Ballroom and sat in one of these original booths. The 3,600-square-foot maple dance floor was in amazing shape. Kinda neat to be in the same building as Bob's folks and then Buddy Holly along with a lot of other acts.
The range of acts in this place, from big bands (still playing there all year) to country (Willie Nelson recent concert sold out) to rock and roll (Cheap Trick coming in June) to Yanni, this place has seen it all. This picture probably shows the diversity the best.
A final comment about the acts that have performed at the Surf Ballroom concerns the Guiness Book of World's Records and the famous Nelson Family. When Matthew and Gunnar hit #1 on the Billboard charts with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection", it put the Nelson Family in the record book as the only family in entertainment history with three generations of #1 hitmakers. The Nelson Family also has the distinction of all three generations have performed their hits at the Surf Ballroom.
Here are the rest of the photos that we took to get the full experience. This is a really neat place to visit. Since this has gotten so long our next entry will be on the crash site.
